


i'll get you out of this, baby

by lunariajen



Series: in adult life not everything goes as planned [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boxing, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, different stuff you shouldn't do mentioned, jenle because the tag is too dry, underground boxing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 16:18:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17410154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunariajen/pseuds/lunariajen
Summary: Chenle hates seeing Jeno covered in bruises after every late night boxing match. When kissing them doesn't seem to relieve the pain anymore, he decides to do something about it.





	i'll get you out of this, baby

"Jeno, look up from your phone."

"There's nothing to look at."

"Excuse me?" Chenle turned his head to the side. "What about all those neon lights, pretty billboards... and me?"

"Well, you're the only interesting part of it."

Chenle chuckled and paid attention back to the road. He took a quick glance at his watch and let out a sigh.

"You have only twenty minutes left. Gosh, I hate doing this. You could have asked for help, Jaemin's parents..."

"Jaemin's parents hate me since our high school years," Jeno interrupted. "Jisung's banned from using money, Hyuck's broke and I would never ask Renjun for money. You're the only one left."

"Okay then, you could have asked _me_ for help."

"We didn't know each other well back then. And I don't like relying on others."

"Still, that's not a reason to to something like that, Jeno," Chenle tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "I would do everything to get you out of this mess."

"I know, Chenle. Thanks. See you later," Jeno sent him a weak smile as the younger man parked the car to let him out.

"I'll be waiting behind the building," Chenle grabbed Jeno's hand to squeeze it tightly.

Jeno nodded and got out of the car, disappearing into the dark night.

• • • 

The boy couldn't help but smile with relief when he saw his opponent on the other side of the boxing ring. He tightened his fists and glanced at the other's bare knuckles, still covered in bruises from previous fights.

Jeno and Hyunjin were friends, despite beating each other until one of them couldn't move. They were the real entertainers, while looking at them together you could think that underground boxing is actually fun to watch. But they were the exception, they never aimed at each other with the purpose of hurting the other one, while other boxers let their anger take control over them. 

The fight started and the two began throwing punches, not with their full strength but strong enough to make them both flinch. After a while Jeno hit Hyunjin in the face, stronger than intended, blinking three times as a quick 'sorry.' Winner gets the money, that's the rule, so each time a different one of them wins and this was Jeno's turn. Hyunjin didn't avoid his punches as much, letting Jeno throw fists at him for good five minutes. When the slightly younger male punched him in the stomach one more time, he decided not to get up from the cold floor.

That's it, Jeno won. The crowd cheered, the boy was quite known which was sometimes complicating his normal, daily life. Next boxers showed up on the ring soon, Hyunjin and Jeno were now insignificant and forgotten in the changing room.

"Damn, you're gonna have a bruise, sorry man," Jeno touched Hyunjin's face.

"Not the first one," the boy just shrugged. "You did well today but for breaking the 'not in the face' rule you owe me ten bucks."

"Dude, I don't remember the last time I got paid!" Jeno threw his hands in the air.

"Overdramatic," Hyunjin teased, "I saw a wallet in your jacket."

"Yeah, I sure do have a wallet, the thing is that it's empty."

The other boy laughed and continued taking his clothes off to take a shower in the ugly and dirty yet still functioning bathroom. "Okay, this time I'll let you slide but the next one it's twenty dollars."

"Deal, but hurry up, someone's waiting for me."

"The pretty boy in the even prettier car?" Hyunjin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, him," Jeno sighed. "He can't wait there forever so can you please move."

Hyunjin mumbled something quietly as he threw his clothes on the concrete floor and walked out of the room.  
Jeno was alone now, there were lots of people in the building, sure, but Jeno was lonely. Except for Hyunjin he hated absolutely everything and everyone there. That place made him sick, the smell of sweat and cigarettes made him want to throw up. Old tattooed men and teen crackheads, both made the boy anxious whenever they tried to talk to him. The salary, let's call it like that, wasn't worth his pain, struggles and sadness at all.

"Wow, you're back," Jeno blinked in surprised as he saw the older boy back after approximately five minutes.

"You told me to hurry!" Hyunjin pointed a finger at him, offended.

"Yeah, right," Jeno chuckled and went to take a shower as well. When he was back, Hyunjin was still shirtless, trying to count his bruises.

"Damn bro, it's not my fault, right?" Jeno said as he walked closer.

"Only some of them. And my face."

"Your fangirls would kill me if they found out who's behind your face looking like... that," the boy was given a glare.

"I feel like someone may tell them about that."

"You wouldn't do that."

"Right, I wouldn't. Some people in my college know and my friends are worried. Have you told about this shit anyone besides your boy?"

Jeno shook his head. "No and I'm not planning to. I told him kinda randomly too, once I was beaten up so bad that I couldn't walk so I called him to pick me up cause he's the only one of my friends who can afford a car."

"What was his reaction?"

"He was ready to beat the shit out of me too," The boys chuckled. "When I told him about Sungmin's injuries he decided to get me out of this."

"Well, I hope he'll succeed. Honestly, I think you're the only guy who deserves better in here," Hyunjin looked lost in thought. "Why did the majority of us start? For extra cash to buy drugs, alcohol, for popularity, some freaks even for pure entertainment. You stand out so much, Jen. To help your best friend's mother, really?"

"I also need money to pay bills and shit, I'm no hero," Jeno hanged his head low.

"Yeah, 'cause you got kicked out of the house for absolutely nothing. You're a good guy. And each time you come here, your chances to stop become lower."

"Gosh, Hyunjin. Thanks, you know. I'd probably get beaten to death if we weren't in this together."

The other boy smiled slightly and patted Jeno's back. "No problem. Go to your boy."

Jeno put on his leather jacket and returned the smile, walking out of the room and then building. It was late but not that dark, the sky was lit up by city lights, some cars were passing by and soon the boy recognized Chenle's one.

"Hey, baby." Jeno pinched Chenle's cheek as he got into the car. RnB was playing quietly in the background, the air smelled fresh and the younger boy looked absolutely breathtaking in Jeno's eyes.

"Baby?" Chenle couldn't help but laugh.

"You don't like it?" Jeno widened his eyes, still smiling.

"I do, it's just that you seem to be in a very good mood."

"I was fighting against Hyunjin and it was my turn to win so..."

"Ah, I see," Chenle sent him one more smile before starting the engine. "We're going to my house as usual. You need some hot tea and a blanket plus something for bruises after your acting like a bad boy again."

"Hey, maybe I was a bad boy in high school, huh? You don't know that."

"The guys told me Jaemin was the bad boy. You were a baby boy. His baby boy, from what I've heard," Chenle's eyes were glued to the road but Jeno guessed he'd like to know more.

"Yeah, we had been dating for almost two years but then we realized our feelings vanished and he fell for Jisung. And yeah that's true, I fought only once in high school and actually it was to protect Jisung. Oh, if I knew back then..."

"Come on, Jeno. You can't control what you feel."

"I know, love causes only more problems. if I could, I'd never fall for Jaemin, Donghyuck nor you," Jeno froze for a second but then he just internally shrugged. Someone had to say it first.

The thing between Jeno and Chenle had begun around four months ago and it took them a surprisingly short time to realize it's a mutual feeling. And what made them realize was one night, when Jeno got beaten worse than usual and they drank alcohol afterwards. Chenle, being more than tipsy, started kissing every visible bruise on Jeno's face, his knuckles, and said it would relieve the pain. And actually, Jeno felt as if it did. The incident happened over two months ago and Chenle would still occasionally do that. It was the time to do something about it.

"So you like me romantically?" Chenle turned his head to look at Jeno with a smirk.

"Pretty much."

"Cool. I like you too."

It wasn't a shy confession with an even shyer kiss like with Jaemin. It wasn't dramatic, with lots of tears and endless 'I love you too's like with Donghyuck either.  
It was something new.

"It's a shame you didn't get to know Mark. When he was leaving to Canada he just said 'I love you guys, I'll call you later' and left us on the airport," Jeno snorted.

"But did you need more words though? I think 'love' means more than if he'd cry and claim he'll miss you and stuff."

"Maybe you're right..."

"You must miss him, huh? You go to church a lot lately," Chenle glanced at the boy who looked lost in thought.

"Yeah. When I was little, my grandma would drag me to church as often as possible and that's when I met Mark. While our grandmas were praying, we were playing rock paper scissors or something," Jeno chuckled at the memory. "Besides that, when I was with Renjun in France, we were visiting at least three old churches a day because of this art history freak," he shook his head. "But in fact it's kinda comforting, you know."

"I get it," Chenle nodded. "I hope Mark will visit us sometime." 

"He will, he misses us too much," Jeno shrugged with a smile and they both remained quiet for the next few minutes before Chenle drove into the parking lot.

The Chinese boy lived in a huge apartment, probably worth more than all the other boys could save in ten years gathered together. No one except Jeno knew how he became so rich. Sure, they visited Chenle as a group a few times, talked to his lovely mother, but only Jeno knew the truth about the boy's father. And that's because of the underground world, the drug dealers he's talked to after some fights and stuff. First thing, Chenle's real last name was Zhong. It took him a while to figure this out but eventually he did and that made him able to get more information about the boy's family. He was convinced the reason why Chenle wants to get him out of the shady world is because his own father was involved in way worse stuff. For example, Jeno's heard about the Zhongs supplying crime groups with weapons. He couldn't tell how much of it is true, it's better not to trust teenage crackheads, but nonetheless his feelings towards the boy remained the same. He knew Chenle, living with his divorced mother, has nothing to do with this.

"No one's home," Chenle stated when they entered the fancy building. "What do you want to eat?"

"I don't need anything," Jeno shook his head quickly.

"You do, thankfully our housemaid cooked some chicken soup," the younger boy started heating their food. "She's an odd woman but she claims chicken soup eases pain when you're sick and quickens healing."

"Interesting," Jeno hummed quietly as he sat on a couch. Soon, Chenle joined him with a soup and started feeding him, rambling about something Jeno couldn't even focus on. When they both finished eating, they moved upstairs, lying down on the younger's bed. 

"And this is pretty much it," Chenle stated after his long speech. "Were you even listening? You seem sleepy," he added, swinging his legs while lying on his stomach and staring at Jeno, who nodded as a response. 

"Let's go to sleep, it's 2 AM, Le," Jeno pulled the younger boy by his sleeve, rubbing his eye with the other hand.

"Good idea," Chenle chuckled quietly, snuggling closer to the boy, careful not to hurt his aching body. Jeno yawned, putting his arm over the younger male, and receiving a kiss on the chin in response followed by another on the nose and then on his forehead, all of them light as if he was touched with a feather. As usual, the older boy couldn't fall asleep for a long time, overthinking stuff and staring at the white ceiling. He lied on his side, gazing at the pretty boy until he finally felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier each minute.

• • • 

Last rays of sun shined brightly through the thin curtains, making the bright cafe drown in warm, orange shades.

"Gosh, I live off coffee, painkillers and salad these days," the brown-haired boy rested his head on his palm, staring mindlessly at bergs in his cup.

"Finals are literally your only problem, Jaemin," Chenle gave him a pitiful look. "Some of us have to work, you know."

"Says the richest one!"Jaemin snorted turning his head to the blonde boy beside him. "We've been struggling with money too lately, 'cause, you know, we want to rent an apartment to live on our own with Jisungie," he said, looking back at Chenle who was loudly sipping his coffee.

"Then go to work like Renjun," the dark haired boy shrugged, looking in the direction of the Chinese waiter, rushing between the tables.

"Wow, you're such a supportive best friend, Chenle," Jisung finally spoke, playfully glaring at the boy siting across him.

"I'm just giving you advice!" Chenle threw his hands in the air but then felt a warm hand on his knee. "Hm?" he turned his head to Jeno who was sitting right beside him and staring at his phone.

"Can you give me a ride to... you know," he asked quietly, his eyes glued to the device.

"Guys, we'll be back soon," Chenle suddenly got up, dragging Jeno with him.

"What, where are you going?" Jaemin widened his eyes. "Donghyuck's going to join us soon!"

"Don't worry!" Chenle shouted with a smile, already at the door.

He led Jeno to his car and remained quiet for next five minutes, which was a lot in his case.

"What happened?"

"I received a message. 'Come get your money, you have fifteen minutes or don't show up here ever again.' So I'm going," Jeno shrugged like it was nothing but Chenle noticed his tight grip on the smartphone.

"It's okay, breathe, Jeno. If we won't make it on time then at least this means you won't have to fight ever again, am I wrong?" the younger boy tried to calm him by grabbing his hand gently.

"That's not the problem. They would never ask me to come this early nor this aggressively. Something must have happened and I have a feeling like it has to do something with Hyunjin."

Chenle nodded, he's heard a lot about Hyunjin and was aware of how important he is to Jeno, so he just stepped on the gas pedal, trying to get to their destination as soon as possible.

When they finally reached the place, probably breaking some traffic regulations on the way, the younger boy got out of the car as well, much to Jeno's surprise. "I'm going with you," he simply said when he noticed the other staring at him in confusion.

A broad and tall guy let them into the old and damaged building after recognizing Jeno and the two continued walking through the hall with walls grey and painted all over in graffiti. It wasn't Chenle's first time in a place like that, yet he still felt shivers going down his spine at the thought of Jeno coming here so often.

Another big guy let them into a small room, something like an office. They were met with a judging stare from a guy in a suit, standing out from the not so clean surroundings. 

"You came on time, I'm impressed, Jeno."

"I did and I would like to leave soon, sir," Jeno's cold glare didn't seem to affect the man at all.

"Don't be so quick," he chuckled. "I thought maybe you would like to know what happened to your pretty friend," the man sent him a challenging look. "Our dear Hyunjin is now in a hospital, oh, don't worry, he'll live, no need to look at me like that, Jeno. However, I don't think he'll be able to fight ever again and since he's in coma, I decided to stop being an asshole for once and give you both yours and his money."

"You're still an asshole, sir," Chenle spoke suddenly, knowing it may be his last chance, and gained a surprised gaze from the man. "And I don't think Jeno will fight ever again too."

"And who are you to decide about stuff like that, young man?"

Chenle just smiled mischievously and showed his I.D with no hesitance, making the boss furrow his eyebrows and Jeno noticed that despite keeping a calm face, he gulped.

"Well, mister Zhong," He cleared his throat. "As much as I value Jeno's skills, letting one of our boxers go won't make such a big difference."

"We will leave now then. Goodbye, sir," Chenle said with a smile, grabbing the package with money in one hand and Jeno's arm in the other. When they were near the exit, the tall guy from before blocked their way. "I have my people here. Do you really want to do this?" Chenle said in a calm voice and the man hesitantly stepped away, eyeing the other guard..

When they were back in the car, Jeno turned to the boy in the driver seat with curiosity. "Do you really have your people there?"

Chenle looked backed at him with a smirk. "Take a wild guess."

"You do?!"

"No," the boy laughed at the visible disappointment on Jeno's face. "Actually, I don't know. My father knows someone everywhere but I'm not like him. Not exactly," he added, paying attention back to the road. 

"Gosh, can't believe I'm dating the new Al Capone," Jeno shook his head with a fake pity.

"Come on," Chenle laughed. "I'm much more handsome than Al Capone. Uh, by the way, we're dating already?"

"I've heard Korean men prefer to establish relationships quickly," Jeno shrugged his arms.

"My goodness. The next step is buying a house like Jaemin and Jisung are planning to do, huh?"

"Who knows?" Jeno smiled at the younger boy and received the brightest smile he'd ever seen in return.

• • • 

Jeno internally cursed at Hyunjin for not telling him more about his private life, because finding the hospital he was in took him a whole week. Thankfully, the boy was was conscious so Jeno could yell at him for that.

As Hyunjin was getting better, Jeno was visiting him and rebuilding his own life once again too. The relationship he's just got himself into seemed promising, he couldn't even go back to his room on campus, since Donghyuck occupied his side of the room now too, so he was spending the majority of his free time with Chenle at his house (his mother absolutely fell for Jeno's kindness) or with the two love birds, Jaemin and Jisung, studying at Renjun's workplace. 

Everything was going just fine, not at all like he's planned it to but he liked it even more this way.

**Author's Note:**

> non-chronological part one of college au in which the dreamies struggle with adult life and their past, helping one another.
> 
> once again, not the best thing i've ever written.
> 
> hmu on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lunariajen) and [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lunariajen).


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